kenneth.mackendrick at utoronto.ca wrote:
> And of course I agree with the telos of human action being
> leisure time. So much so that leisure time is often spent
> avoid even leisure time!
Rakesh, to get a grasp of *telos* read Plato and Dante. It is Aristotle's "Final Cause," the reason for which something exists. That reason *always* lies in the mind of the Maker, and hence teleological doctrines always imply some form of religion. Now this post does have a *Final Cause*, *my* intention. But human life as a whole is meaningless since there is no agent who creates that life as a whole as an expression of meaning.
My core objection to both Rod Hay and Jim Blaut (despite their many differences) is that their arguments re "Progress" are essentially religious arguments and dissolve materialism.
I suggest you get Charles S. Singleton's edition, translation, and commentary of Dante's *Heaven* and read Canto II along with Singleton's Commentary. It will give you a feel for what teleology is like -- and having a feel for the real thing as it were helps greatly in recognizing it in its sneaky modern forms.
Carrol